Golf is a well-known sport in which a golf ball is advanced around a course using an assorted set of specialized clubs. Golfers strive to complete a given course using the fewest number of strokes. In golf, low scores are the goal.
Successful golfers typically master a wide variety of complementary skills to provide consistent results. Among the most important skills a golfer can develop is the ability to grip a golf club correctly. Without the proper gripping technique, a golfer may master other skills but perpetually achieve poor results. Hand placement is so critical that even slight oversights may ruin an otherwise perfectly-executed shot. Moreover, a golfer may vary the distance of a given shot merely by gripping the club at various distances from the end of the club. For example, relatively-short shots may be achieved merely by "choking up" on a club; that is, by gripping the club slightly closer than normal towards the club head. Proper grip technique is typically developed over a period of time through practice and discipline.
Many types of equipment have been developed to help golfers adopt a proper gripping technique. For example, some golf clubs include contoured grips. These clubs are typically used during training sessions and include valleys and protrusions around which a golfer wraps his fingers. These contoured clubs may guide some players, but have limited applicability. These clubs do not allow variable hand positioning and may not fit the hands of all golfers. Additionally, these clubs are typically not allowed during tournament play. The major governing body for golf in the United States, the USGA, prohibits the use of clubs that are molded for a particular part of the hands or that include "bulges" or "waists," as these clubs do. Those who train with contoured grip clubs often must expend additional money for non-contoured grip clubs to use during tournament play.
Other clubs seek to help golfers develop grip technique by providing a tapered grip that increases in thickness as a function of distance from the butt of the club. U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,647 provides an example of this type of club. These "reverse taper" clubs are designed to accommodate the spacing of fingers wrapped around a club. Although these clubs are ergonamically designed, they provide little guidance for players-in-training. These clubs may be comfortable, but they do not address the needs of novice golfers and do not appreciably accelerate grip technique development. Additionally, some of these clubs are not usable in tournament play; they include flared end portions and run afoul of the USGA waist and bulge guidelines.
What is needed is a golf club that includes the advantages of the prior art, while addressing the shortcomings thereof. The device should be a convertible golf club that is useable during tournament and non-tournament play. The club should have a hand placement guiding system that help golfers develop grip technique without limiting the versatility of the club. The club should guide a player's hands into various positions according to the type of shot required, without being uncomfortable to those with large or small hands. The club should also perform identically in both "training" and "tournament" modes.